jesus and the ten COMMANDMENTS

“You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.” Exodus 20:7

“You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” Matthew 5:33‭-‬37

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” Matthew 12:33‭-‬37

So why does Jesus talk about vows? Just like we read in the third verse, whatever is in your heart determines what you say. Meaning you should never need to back your word with a vow. Your heart should always reflect God’s character so therefore you should be known for your honesty and reliability, anything less is “from the evil one.” Jesus redefined all the commandments to make it a heart issue instead of a rule you memorized. Everyone can easily work on living a life without lying. That’s a simple conscious decision. But it’s much harder to stay true to your promises and be reliable. Things happen, so saying “I swear I’ll do it” binds you into a commitment you can’t go back on, not to mention sounds like you are talking them into believing you, like just saying yes isn’t enough. But saying “I can do it” is a more honest and reliable answer. It comes from a place of trust, people can trust your word if you do what you say consistently. But Jesus takes it to a whole other level by making it a matter of the heart. 

Once upon a time there was a man named Charlie. Everyone knew Charlie to be one of the most giving men in town. He was always offering to help out his neighbors with stuff. The only problem with Charlie was that he never kept his word. He said he would do something then he would flake out on it. After a while people stopped trusting him. He would even tell people “I swear I’ll be there” but people knew this was just talk. 

This is just an example of what it looks like in that verse when you have to say stuff like “By heaven!” That’s a vow and breaking your vow is a very serious thing. Do you remember the story of Jephthah and his daughter found in Judges 11?

“At that time the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him victory. He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites. When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.” And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the Lord, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the Lord has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.” “You may go,” Jephthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter.” ‭‭Judges‬ ‭11:29-40‬ ‬‬

Jephthah made a vow and ended up with a dire consequence. But because it was a vow, he could not break it. Swearing and vowing are serious commitments and should not be taken lightly. They should be used in desperate times and for desperate matters. You should take into account all the consequences should you make or break that vow. Even if it’s just the simplest consequence like losing someone’s trust, which is still a very serious thing.

Another aspect of the Ten Commandments that I would like to touch on is the most obvious and used elaboration on this commandment and that would be to not use God’s name in vain. That does not just mean “Oh My God”. No it also means saying “God” as an exclamation of any kind. Or saying something is Holy, like “holy cow”. Because to be holy is to be set apart for God. Cows in general are not holy and set apart for God (unless they are to be used in a sacrifice for God, but I don’t usually sacrifice cows, do you?) Therefore stating something as holy when it is not, is going against this Commandment. 

What is the big deal, why does it matter?

I believe this is a big deal because it is disrespectful to God. It makes God and Jesus’s names less sacred and Holy. It makes them into nothing more than interjections rather than the names of the all knowing living God and the Savior of the world. God created the world and everyone and everything in it. If anyone deserves respect and to have their name honored, it is the Creator of the world. Jesus literally gave his life to fulfill the requirements for the consequences of sin so that we don’t have to die. If anyone deserves their name to be kept sacred, it’s Jesus. 

Another take on this Commandment is saying “God told me to” or “it is God’s will” when in fact that is a false statement.  Like for example, when you desire something and you say “This must be something God wants for me. It is His will that I have this” without praying about it and getting confirmation from Him, you are attributing to Him something that is not His desire for you. The most dramatic example I can think of was back in the early founding of our country, some people would severely mistreat people of different races, especially the black community and use scripture to justify their reasoning. Or at times others would say it is God’s will to purify a community to be purely anglo-saxon in origin. Because there are tons of verses that talk about light being attributed to Godly aspects, and dark being attributed to evil and of the devil. When in reality these verses are just metaphors using a tangible example. They were in no way referring to skin color. But that’s just an example from history.

But the biggest and hardest part of this Commandment is stating you are a Christian and then not living a life that reflects Christ. That is taking God’s name in vain. That is breaking of this commandment. For example, going to church on the weekend but gossiping with your friends on a Monday, does not reflect Christ. Saying you love everyone yet joking about hating people wishing you didn’t have to deal with certain people, is breaking this commandment. Judging someone for their tattoos or piercings or lifestyle, yet listening to secular music, watching TV shows with witchcraft, or messing around with your boyfriend/girlfriend is not honoring this commandment. 

I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’ve done almost all of these things. But what I am saying is that this commandment goes much deeper than just saying “OMG.” It goes back to when Jesus talks about the fruit, in the third verse, the fruit inside is what’s going to reflect on the outside. If you have bitterness or jealousy or hatred on the outside, it’s going to start showing itself in the way you interact with others. Jesus says you will be judged on the words you say, so it is very important to reflect Jesus in everything you say.

I learned something recently that blew my mind. The name God gave Moses at the burning bush was translated into English as “I Am”, but in Hebrew it is YHWH (It eventually turned into YaHWeH in English because we like vowels). Scholars have discovered that YHWH makes the sound of breathing. YH is the inhale WH is the exhale, these are known as aspirated consonants. This means that from the moment a baby takes its first breath it is breathing the name of God. Every groan is groaning the name of God, every sigh is exclaiming the name of God. 

How does this commandment apply?

It means our every breath is a living testament of God. So taking the name of God in vain would be living a life that would bring dishonor or shame upon the name of the Living God, whereas your every breath disrespects Him. This is why Jesus made a point to turn this commandment into a much deeper level than just what you say. He brought it to; how do you live your life? Are you producing good fruit or bad fruit? Do the actions you do reflect a heart that is devoted to God, or a heart that is devoted to selfish gains?